


Take A Step That Is New

by leyley09



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7809202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leyley09/pseuds/leyley09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike's got a crush on this guy who picks up print orders for a marketing company. Tom's got a crush on this guy who picks up coffee for eight people every work day. André would complain about running all the errands for his office, but -- well, I think you get the picture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take A Step That Is New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [absention](https://archiveofourown.org/users/absention/gifts).



> Absention, I hope you enjoy this! I know you didn't specifically list "didn't know they were dating" as a favorite trope, but I hope you'll like the twist I put on this. :D
> 
>  
> 
> (And yes, yes I did take the title of my very first OT3 fic from the theme song to Three's Company, what of it)

Mike’s been working at this FedEx-Kinko's for two years now, and he’s never wanted to ask out a customer before. This kid -- no, this guy, he’s clearly old enough to have a job -- comes in nearly every day to pick up documents for the marketing firm up the street, The 819 Group. Those guys go through more paper…. Anyway, the kid -- no, no, the guy looks a little younger than Mike, tall and slim, with twinkling dark eyes. He’s even got this adorable accent that Mike can never quite place. He smiles at Mike a lot, but he looks kind of shy.

“Ask him out already, jesus,” Mike’s best friend and roommate Tom says, smashing a ping-pong ball in Mike’s general direction.

Mike sidesteps the ballistic missile and goes to pick up the now dented ball. It’s a good thing they buy these things by the case.

“Have you asked out ‘Large-Cinnamon-Roll-Latte-with-an-extra-shot’?” Mike retorts.

“Well, no,” Tom admits sheepishly. “I get distracted by dimples, you know that.”

Tom works at the coffee shop a few blocks from Mike’s job. They get a ton of regulars, but there’s one in particular that’s caught his attention for the last few months. He comes in every morning to pick up coffee for his office and orders the same thing for himself every day. Mike’s not sure if Tom knows his name; he always calls the guy “Cinnamon Roll”. The only other thing Mike knows about him is that he has dimples. Excellent dimples, if Tom is to be believed, and Tom  _ is _ kind of an expert on dimples.

“So you have no room to talk, asshole,” Mike throws the dented ping-pong ball at Tom’s head. While Tom is huffily ‘fixing’ his hair, Mike digs a new ball out of the box under the table. “I’m just nervous. I’ll work up to it.”

“You should, bro, you deserve it,” Tom beams at him. 

Mike focuses on his ping-pong serve. He wants to wallow in that smile, but he can’t. It’s better to just ignore it; he’s trying to get over this thing he has for Tom. This new crush can only help - a little distraction will be good for him. He just needs to figure out a way to ask Marketing Guy his name.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Tom’s not naturally a morning person, so he should really hate the opening shift at Vezina Coffee. The shop opens at six o’clock in the morning, which is an ungodly hour. It’s a damn good thing he and Mike live nearby; if he had any more than a five minute commute, he’d quit in despair.

When he started at Vezina, he’d been working the afternoon or closing shifts after classes in the morning. After he graduated last spring, the boss - Braden - had asked him to stay full time; he’s been putting Tom’s hospitality management degree to good use by putting him in charge of several aspects of the business. Unfortunately, that means that Tom needs to be available during “regular business hours”, no matter how much Tom insists that that phrase doesn’t mean six A.M. 

There are, currently, only two perks to working the opening shift. First, he works with Nate most days. Nate is like walking sunshine at any hour of the day; he loves waiting on customers and talking to people which leaves Tom to bang around behind the counter making coffee and not speaking to anyone until at least eight. And just after eight o’clock, the second perk walks through the door. This guy is stupidly adorable. He’s smaller than Tom - which Tom likes - and he’s got a shy smile with a gorgeous set of dimples. He always hands over a written list of drink orders and only orders his drink out loud - large cinnamon roll latte with an extra shot. Most days, he’s the only person who orders that particular drink, so that’s what Tom calls out when two drinks carriers are ready for him. He’s been trying to ask the guy his name for weeks, but there’s rarely time between eight and eight-thirty to chat with anyone.

“Cinnamon roll latte!” Tom calls out into the crowd. His favorite perk slips nimbly through the crush of people in front of the counter to grab the carriers. 

“Thank you,” he says quietly; Tom can barely hear him over the other customers.

“Hey, hold on a sec.” Tom reaches out, but doesn’t quite touch - even he knows better than to just grab someone without asking.

Cinnamon roll guy just raises an eyebrow and smirks a little as he waits.

“It’s just, um, I-we see you in here like every day, bro, and I’ve never heard your name.”

“Oh,” he smiles shyly, looking down at the counter before glancing back up at Tom through his eyelashes. “It’s André.”

“André,” Tom confirms with a grin. “I’m Tom. See you tomorrow?”

André chuckles. “I’m sure. Our office doesn’t function without coffee.”

“Whip - we’re getting a back up here!” Nate hollers from the register.

“Okay, okay!” Tom yells back. “Sorry, gotta get back to it. See you tomorrow?”

“Bye, Tom,” André smiles as he takes his order and heads for the door.

Tom goes back to mixing caffeinated beverages with a dopey grin on his face. As the rush dies down a little, Nate throws a balled up napkin at his head. 

“Rein it in, buddy, you’ve got little rainbows and sparkly hearts floating around your head.”

Tom is going to deny looking up to check until the day he dies. It’s just been a really long time since having a crush made him happy. His crush on Mike has been making him miserable for longer than he can remember. This is good, though; maybe a distraction will help him finally get over Mike.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“So I talked to Cinnamon Roll guy today,” Tom says apropos of nothing. He’s standing at the stove, stirring ground meat for tacos. Five seconds ago, they were talking about if the Maple Leafs were going to clear a .500 record this season.

Mike focuses on the avocado he’s dicing; he’s not allowed to do much in the kitchen, but he can slice (most) things without disaster. “Oh, yeah?”  _ Supportive friend, supportive friend, supportive… _

“Yeah.”

“That’s it?”

“We didn’t really have time for a conversation; you know what the shop is like at eight. I barely got his name before I got chewed out for holding up the line.”

“At least you got a name. That’s something, right?”

“Yeah, I guess. And we get slow mornings occasionally, maybe I’ll get lucky.”

“Please, not at the coffee shop. People eat there.”

Tom bursts out laughing. “Shut up, Mike.” He reaches over and steals a piece of avocado.

Mike moves on to tomatoes and doesn’t bring it up again.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike’s reading through Mr. Orpik’s list of this week’s online orders when the bell at the door signals a customer. He can’t help his grin when he sees Marketing Guy come through the door. He’s actually conversing with the guy today. He’s decided. If Tom can do it...

“Hey,” he starts, “it’s been like three days since we saw you; I was starting to worry.”

The guy blushes a little but rolls his eyes at the same time. “We had a ‘crisis’ in office.” He doesn’t make the quote marks with his fingers, but Mike can hear them.

“Crisis, huh?”

“Boss says no one orders anything until CEO shows up to important meeting. Took two days before he gives in.”

“Your boss tells the CEO what to do? Who’s your boss?” 

Marketing Guy snorts a laugh. “My boss is COO; I’m his assistant.” He leans partway across the counter. “Don’t tell, but Nicky is everybody’s boss. He just makes Alex CEO so he doesn’t have to deal with people.”

Mike laughs. “Well as long as they sorted it out; I missed you.” 

Shit. That was a weird thing to say, but Marketing Guy just smiles; maybe it wasn’t too weird?

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Mike reaches a hand over the counter. “I’m Mike.”

“Hi, Mike, I’m André.” He shakes Mike’s hand with a grin. “I think you’ve got some posters for me to pick up.”

“Oh, shit, right, sorry,” Mike pulls away reluctantly. He reaches to pull the cardboard tubes from beneath the counter; several other items clatter onto the floor. He tries to discreetly kick a few out of his way as he rings out the order. 

André waits patiently, smiling slightly the whole time. “Okay,” he says as he takes the tubes off the counter, “I’ll see you in a couple days, Mike.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll probably be here,” Mike stumbles over his words, tongue-tied. He waves, probably awkwardly, as André exits onto the sidewalk. He waits until André has passed beyond their windows to sink to the floor behind the counter and bang his head against a support beam a few times.

“You alright out there, Mike?” Mr. Orpik hollers from the backroom.

“Just super, sir. Just super.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike waits until Tom’s started eating their regular Wednesday night pizza before he makes an announcement. “I talked to Marketing Guy today.”

Tom chokes a bit on his pizza, enough that he’s coughing and his eyes are watering. Mike looks vaguely concerned while he pulls himself together. 

“Sorry, swallowed wrong.” He keeps talking over Mike’s expected attempt at innuendo. “So what’d you guys talk about?”

“I introduced myself, we talked a little bit about his job.”

“You said he works at 819 Group? The marketing company that’s between the coffee shop and your store?”

“Yeah, he’s somebody’s assistant, I guess, that’s why they make him come by all the time.”

“Makes sense.” Tom reaches for another slice of pizza. “Hey,  _ Castaway _ is on.”

“Awesome, I love that movie!” Mike flips to the indicated channel before settling back into his end of the couch.

Good. Subject change successful. Tom knows a good friend should let Mike ramble on about this guy he’s crushing on, but he just can’t tonight. Some days it’s easier to acknowledge the fact that Mike doesn’t - has not in the past and will not in the future - have any interest in him in like  _ that _ . Today is not one of those days. Today is one of those days during which he will sit on this couch with Mike watching a movie they’ve seen a thousand times, pretending even to himself that he doesn’t have all these warm-fuzzy feelings. Eventually the empty pizza box will end up on the floor and everyone’s feet will get tangled up on the middle cushion. Mike will nudge him with a foot every time Tom Hanks yells for Wilson, and Tom will try very, very hard not to wish that Mike would react like that if they were ever separated.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Tom isn’t obsessing about the time. He’s not, no matter what Nate or Braden say. He’s reasonably concerned. André hasn’t been later than 8:15 on any weekday for last five months. It’s currently 8:45. 

“Maybe he’s been fired,” Nate volunteers.

“Maybe he’s had a terrible accident,” Braden yells from the kitchen.

“You both suck.”

The morning rush is officially dying down when André barrels through the door, trailed by another guy whose expression and appearance just scream “intern”. André is frowning, and he seems to have developed a twitch in his left eye.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Nate beams at the two as they reach the counter. 

André hands over a slip of paper and a credit card without a word. Nate glances at Tom with concern, but starts ringing up the orders. Tom wanders over to start labeling cups, because he’s helpful like that. That’s the only reason.

“Hey, André,” he smiles, “rough day?”

André sighs explosively. “We have, what’s the word, other people visiting?”

“Guests,” Tom supplies.

“We have guests in office.” André glares behind him at the slight young man with him, who hunches his shoulders and looks at the floor. “Very irritating guests.”

“Do you need someone to come over there and knock some people around?”

Nate snorts. The guy behind André looks genuinely alarmed. André bursts out laughing. 

“No, I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can,” Tom grins. “It’s just easier for me; I’m bigger. It’s physics.”

“If you say so,” André replies with a chuckle.

“Whip here wouldn’t know physics if it bit him on the ass,” Nate volunteers, moving with a stack of cups towards the coffee urn.

Tom rolls his eyes, but can’t help smiling back at André. He and Nate assemble the rest of the orders with a little bit of small talk. They pick up that quiet-intern-guy’s name is Stan, and he’s one of the guests; he’s tagging along to help carry all the coffee. By the time André and Stan finally leave, André’s actually smiling, so Tom’s going to count that as a win. He whistles tunelessly while he cleans up before the midday rush - at least until Braden starts throwing things at his head.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“ _ Nicky, han går som en älg _ ,” André is spitting into the phone as he comes through the door.

Mike has no idea what that means, but it sounds rude. André looks like a pissed off kitten. It’s obnoxiously cute. 

André looks up sharply when Mike snickers; he flushes when they make eye contact. Mike doesn’t understand what he says next, but he hangs up the phone.

“Rough day?” Mike asks as André reaches the counter.

“We have, uh, guests at the office. Business friends of CEO. Very annoying people.  _ Jävla ryssar _ .” André mutters the last part under his breath. 

That also sounded even ruder. Mike raises an eyebrow as he sets the box of bound presentations on the counter. “Do you need someone to come down there and knock some people around?”

“You’re the second person to say that to me,” André huffs. “Do I really look like I can’t take care of myself?”

“I’m sure you can,” Mike grins. “It’s just easier for me; I’m bigger. It’s physics.”

André gets a confused crinkle between his eyebrows, but it’s gone quickly. He signs the receipt Mike offers him and collects his box.

“See you later?” Mike calls after him.

André turns to push the door open with his back. “Of course,” he smirks at Mike, “no one else knows the way to your store.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Do we have anything to pick up at print shop?” André leans against the door frame of Nicky’s office. 

“No. For the third time today, no, you don’t need to go to the print shop. And, to save you the trouble of asking, no one needs you to pick up coffee either.” Nicky gives him a pointed look over the top of his computer screen.

André blushes. “Oh, uh, okay.”

“You’re not very subtle, you know.”

“Who’s not subtle?”

André jumps. Alex is incredibly sneaky; this isn’t the first time he’s shouted in André’s ear without warning.  Alex shoulders past him into the office and sprawls in one of the chairs before the desk. 

“André isn’t subtle.”

“Oh, about the copy boy and the coffee boy?”

“Right.”

“It’s true,” Alex nods at André, “you aren’t subtle.”

“Does everyone know?”

“Yep.” Alex grins. Nicky rolls his eyes.

André drops into the other chair and buries his head in his hands. “Ugh, this is so embarrassing.”

“You should ask them out.”

André looks up at Alex. “Them? Both of them?” 

“Really, Sasha?” Nicky looks resigned; he’s probably just asking because he’s supposed to.

“Why not?” Alex looks back and forth between them. “First of all, you don’t know both will say yes. And even if they do, you can date more than one person at a time. Gives you time to figure out which is best - or if just one is best.” He winks at André with a lascivious smirk.

“But I don’t- I never-”

“You don’t have to do it today,” Nicky interrupts. “Just think about it. Somewhere else.”

“What?”

“Get out of my office, André.”

André snorts but moves towards the door.

“And shut the door!” Alex shouts behind him. 

André pulls the door closed with a snicker of his own. He’s not the only one in this office that isn’t subtle.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike decided a week ago he was going to ask André out. He’s talked himself into it and out of it and back into it at least a dozen times. André’s been in the store twice already this week, but his nerves failed him. Not today though. He’s doing this.

“And then Alex tried to bring a baby bear into the meeting-”

“So, uh, André, would you, um, want to grab some dinner sometime?” Mike fidgets with the pens next to the register before realizing he just cut André off in the middle of a sentence.

André laughs quietly. “That would be nice, Mike. I’d like that.”

Oh, thank god. “There’s this pizza place a few blocks from here, it’s really good. We could go, uh, whenever you’re free.”

“Is tonight good?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, tonight’s good.”

“Awesome. I’ll meet you here at 6. We can walk over together?”

“Uh, okay.”

“Bye, Mike!” André beams at him as he leaves, the reflection from the glass door blinding Mike temporarily.

Mike feels like he’s been steamrolled, but he doesn’t care. He’s got a date tonight. He digs out his phone and sends a text to Tom.

**Won’t be home for dinner. Date with Marketing Guy. Don’t wait up.**

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike’s date with his marketing guy seemed to go well. He still hadn’t come in when Tom (and his stupid morning shift) had to go to bed. It’s good; Mike deserves to be happy. But if he’s going to be dating, Tom needs to be dating too. He’s not going to be some kind of third wheel around his own apartment. 

It takes him a few days to work up the nerve, but Friday morning when André comes through the door, Tom’s prepared. He’s got André’s cup specially marked with his phone number and a message -- “ how do you feel about baseball? game tomorrow 3PM .” He makes sure André sees the writing before he moves on to the next customer, but he doesn’t notice if André takes the time to read it.

It’s more than an hour later before he can check his phone. There’s a text from an unknown number that reads  **See you @ 3** .

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“How was your ball game?” Mike asks Sunday morning.

Tom glances up briefly from his coffee. “Good.”

“Very descriptive, Grumpy.”

“Shut up.”

Mike laughs and sits down on the couch, balancing an overly full bowl of cereal very carefully.

“So I was going to ask, are you planning to be home tomorrow night?”

“Um, yes. It’s Monday.”

“Right, well, I was going to invite --”

“Go ahead.”

“You don’t even know who I’m talking about!”

“Bullshit. You want to invite your marketing guy over to watch The Bachelor with us. It’s fine, go ahead.”

“You’re sure?”   


“Yep.”

Mike sets his bowl on the floor and starts poking at his phone. (Mike’s clumsy; he can’t do anything and hold liquids at the same time.) His phone buzzes almost immediately. He grins down at it; marketing guy must have said yes.

Whatever. He had to meet this guy sometime.

Tom’s on his second cup of coffee when it occurs to him that he can have guests too. He sends a quick text to André, but gets back a  **plans already :(** . Well, shit. 

He ponders for a bit longer. He takes his mug and Mike’s empty cereal bowl into the kitchen, leaving them in the sink for now. The Bachelor is only an hour long tomorrow. He can tolerate anyone for an hour, especially for Mike. And he does have the excuse of an early shift at work Tuesday; he can bail at any point to pretend to go to bed.

It’s gonna be fine.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

André is extremely antsy by the time Monday afternoon comes around. Based on his conversations with Mike over the last few days, the opinion of Mike’s roommate is incredibly important. Maybe a little too important. There’s been a lot of “Tom this” and “Tom that” sprinkled through his stories last week. It’s actually sort of cute.  Thinking about Mike’s Tom, of course, makes André think about his own Tom. Tom talked about his roommate a lot too - which is a weird coincidence - but he sounded so sad whenever the roommate came up that André didn’t dwell on the topic. 

He doesn’t have any excuse to go by Mike’s store on Monday, but he texts him a few times throughout the day. They decide to order some take out to watch during the show, and André volunteers to pick it up. Mike sends back a request for enough food for two people; apparently roommate-Tom is going to be around for dinner.

André’s so nervous that he accomplishes basically nothing all afternoon. Nicky eventually gets tired of him walking into the door frames around the office and sends him home early. This leaves him with plenty of time to get ready, but he spends too long choosing clothes and fixing his hair. He’s nearly 10 minutes behind schedule when he stops to pick up their Indian food.

The elevator in Mike’s building is out of order, so he’s forced to take the stairs to the fourth floor apartment. He’s panting, sweating, and almost 20 minutes late when he finally knocks on the door of Mike’s apartment. He’s already started apologizing before the door opens all the way.

“I am SO sorry I’m late -- Tom?”

His Tom - coffee shop Tom - is standing in the doorway, mouth agape.

“Is that André? Let him in, asshole!” Mike appears behind Tom, entering from another room. He pauses when he see them staring at each other. “Tom?”

“Marketing Guy… is André?” Tom asks hoarsely.

“Yeah?” Mike sounds as confused as André feels. After a moment though, a light of understanding passes across his face. “Oh my god. André is Cinnamon Roll Latte.”

“I think you better come in,” Tom says.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike takes the bag of Indian food from him and wedges it into the microwave “to keep warm”. Tom has collapsed onto one end of the couch. There’s an armchair in the corner; André shifts a box of ping pong balls to the floor and sits in it.

“So you guys know each other.” This is pointing out the obvious, but André feels they need to be extra clear right now.

“Yeah,” Tom answers.

“Since grade school,” Mike adds, returning from the kitchen to take what is clearly his seat on the other end of the sofa.

“And you had no idea you both knew me?”

They look at each other sheepishly.

“We started talking about, well, you, before either of us knew your name,” Mike starts. “So we had nicknames, and I guess we just never bothered to stop using them.”

“And we never compared detailed descriptions. There are lots of dark haired guys with brown eyes, you know?”

André nods. “And I knew Mike had a roommate named Tom, but, like you say, lots of guys named Tom.”

Tom looks sharply at Mike. “You talked about me?”

André chuckles. “He barely talked about anything else.”

Mike blushes. Tom’s forehead wrinkles with confusion as he watches him.

André contemplates them for a minute. Mike’s very specifically not looking at Tom. Tom keeps trying to look away from Mike - trying being the key word. André is struck quite suddenly with a conclusion he can’t believe he’s missed. 

“Can I ask a question?” Both of them look at him; they nod in perfect sync. “Why are you not dating each other?”

The silence drags out for a minute, then two, then a couple more.

“Why would you ask that?” Tom finally says, anguish clear in his voice.

“Because of me,” Mike whispers.

“What?” Tom jerks his head towards Mike, eyes wide.

Mike keeps his eyes glued to the floor. “I’ve had feelings for you for...I think forever, Tommy. Never thought you were interested, so…” he shrugs as he trails off. He looks up at André. “That doesn’t mean I’m not really interested in you, too. I am, honest. Really, really interested.”

Tom is still staring at Mike. He keeps opening and closing his mouth, as if he wants to say something but can’t decide what. André settles back into his chair to wait.

“You never- you never said anything, you never did anything. I had no idea.”

“That was kind of the point. You weren’t interested, so you didn’t need to know.”

“But I was interested! Am interested! I can’t say it’s been forever, but it’s been, like, a really long time. I didn’t think you were interested in me, so I wasn’t going to say anything.”

It’s Mike’s turn to look stunned. André wishes he had popcorn; this is surprisingly entertaining. He wonders how long it’s going to take before they realize that this constitutes a problem - a problem which will need a solution.

While these two have been having their earth-shattering moment, André has been thinking. He is, by nature, a little bit greedy. Not so much as to be obnoxious, but he usually wants more than he might be entitled to. It’s why his coffee order is a large, when everyone else in the office gets a medium. It’s also why, when given the choice between two things, he always chooses “both”. 

He doesn’t want to have to choose between Tom and Mike. They appeal to him in different ways and for different reasons. His interactions with them both, particularly over the last few weeks as they’ve actually spoken and then spent time together, have led him to the conclusion that they’re both good for him in different ways. Picking one over the other would be like voluntarily taking half a dose of medication -- it’s better than nothing, but not as good as it could be.

He believes Mike is legitimately interested in him. They might not know each other well enough yet to say there are “feelings” involved, but there is clear potential. He’s also very certain that Tom likes him too; Tom doesn’t do subtle, at least with anyone other than Mike. So, he likes both of them. They both like him. They both have very strong feelings for each other. 1 and 1 and 1 is absolutely adding up to 3.

“So what do we do?” Mike finally asks. 

“Turn The Bachelor on before we miss it,” André replies. “And you make room for me on the couch.”

Tom’s already reaching for the remote. “That’s a good short term plan, but I don’t think that’s what he meant.”

André and Mike roll their eyes at each other.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Mike says, smacking Tom in the arm with the back of his hand. He gets up and heads into the kitchen. “I’ll get the food and stuff.”

André moves to the middle cushion of the couch and helps Mike divide up the containers when he comes back from the kitchen. The food is still, well, it’s warm enough. André’s twenty-one years old; he’s eaten worse things.

The food is mostly gone and the first commercial break is just starting when Mike asks again, “What are we going to do?”

“What do you want to do?” André asks.

“I don’t know,” Mike admits. “I feel like I’m supposed to choose, but--”

“--I don’t want to choose either,” Tom finishes.

André grins widely. “So we don’t choose.”

An entire commercial for Kay Jewelers goes by before Tom asks, “Can we do that?”

“Who’s going to stop us?” André asks with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s a good point,” Mike nods at Tom. “Well?”

Tom looks back and forth between them for a moment, and then smiles. André feels like he might be looking directly into the sun. Mike flinches slightly beside him; he’s not the only one, then.

“I’m game if you guys are.”

“Good,” André declares. “Now shut up, it’s back on.”

A minute later, Mike’s fingers curl gently around André’s left hand. He wiggles his fingers just enough that Mike’s slip between them. He tips his head to rest on Tom’s shoulder and smiles when Tom rests a hand on his knee. 

Both is good.

  
  
  
  


**Epilogue:**

 

“You promised you wouldn’t embarrass me _ , _ ” André hisses his boss. Nicky doesn’t reply out loud, just levels a look in his direction that says “are you sure I said that?” 

The 819 Group Christmas party is always boisterous and loud. For the last few years, they’ve had to hold it in the office because they kept getting kicked out of bars and restaurants. Well, Alex kept getting kicked out, and when the CEO gets ejected, everyone else sort of follows.

It’s absolutely cliche to be introducing Nicky - who he technically still lives with - to his boyfriends at the Christmas party, but André would really rather not be introducing them at all. He’d managed to put it off and put it off until last week when Alex caught him in the supply room and threatened to send some of his Russian goon friends out to find them if he didn’t bring them along. André didn’t even know there were Russian goons in this town. 

“I’m serious, I will be an incredible pain in your ass if you embarrass me. _ ” _

Nicky looks back and forth between André and Alex, across the room in a silk shirt patterned with strings of Christmas lights that actually twinkle. “You’re worried about  _ me _ being embarrassing?”

André glares at the room in general. “They’ve heard about how weird Alex is. You’re the one who will ask invasive questions.”

“We could have done this in private at any point in the last six months, but no, you wouldn’t have it. This is your own fault. I promised your parents I would keep an eye on you, and that includes meeting your boyfriends.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t pout, little one,” Alex bellows,draping a twinkly arm across André’s shoulders. A bit of whatever concoction he’s drinking sloshes out of his cup; André barely gets his shoe out of the way in time. “When are the boys coming?”

“Any time now.”

“ANDRÉ, YOUR BOYFRIENDS ARE HERE!” Kuzy shouts from across the room, unnecessarily loud. He gestures at Tom and Mike, frozen just inside the door, as everyone in the room turns to look. Alex takes off towards the door, nearly spinning André around in his haste.

“I told you I wasn’t the one you should be worried about,” Nicky says through chuckles. “Go on, go rescue them.”

André has to shove through a huddle of co-workers to get to his boys. He’s not very nice about it either, poking, elbowing, and kicking when necessary. When he breaks through into the center, the relief from both Tom and Mike is nearly palpable.

“This way, c’mon. Okay, you barbarians, get back, or no coffee on Monday.” The crowd disappears in such a rush that poor Stan gets knocked down. Tom stops to help him up, lifting him bodily from the floor and setting him on his feet. Stan mumbles his thanks and hurries away, shoving Kuzy in the shoulder on his way past.

André leads Tom and Mike across the room to where Nicky is patiently waiting. Alex just beats them there, handing Nicky a drink as their trio arrives.

“So, André, this is copy boy and coffee boy?”

“Alex, Nicky, meet Tom and Mike,” André points helpfully.

“Which one makes the coffee?” Alex looks back and forth between them. Tom raises his hand nervously. “Why don’t you deliver?”

Tom looks at André skeptically. André gestures at him to answer and leans into Mike because, well, because he can.

“It’s difficult to deliver coffee at an optimal temperature and at a reasonable price.”

“Good answer, coffee boy!” Alex beams indiscriminately at the group. “I like this one, André. Now, copy boy - what do you think of our presentations?”

André can feel Mike tense slightly where they’re pressed together, but he sounds confident when he answers.

“You should use recycled paper more often. Or plant some trees.”

Nicky bursts out laughing at Alex’s affronted expression. “I tell him that once a week, at least.” He pats Alex on the arm consolingly and smiles at André. “We should have you boys over for dinner some time.”

“Sure,” Tom answers. Mike nods in agreement.

“Good,” Nicky replies. “André and I will arrange something. You boys go enjoy the party.”

André drags them away before Nicky can change his mind. In the opposite corner of the room, he wraps himself around Tom and reaches back to pull Mike in close as well.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Mike speaks quietly into his ear.

“Yeah, you made it sound like we were going to be interrogated,” Tom chuckles.

“He’ll do that at dinner,” André whines into Tom’s shoulder.

“Won’t that be better than in front of all your co-workers?” Mike asks. 

“I guess so.”

Tom kisses the top of his head. “Then we’ll worry about it later, babe.”

“Okay.” André lifts his head. “Hi, by the way.”

Tom smiles and leans in, kissing him lightly. “Hi to you, too.” He spins André around to face Mike, who leans in for his own ‘hello’ kiss. 

“Missed you today.” Mike takes his hand, squeezing lightly as he links their fingers together.

“Missed you too,” André whispers back. It’s hard to be worried about pending interrogations when he’s surrounded by the two people that make him the happiest.

  
  


Across the room, Alex lays an arm over Nicky’s shoulders and leans in close. “They look happy, yes?”

“Yes, I think they do.”

“So when they come to dinner, going to embarrass the hell out of André, right?”

Nicky looks over with a mischievous grin. “Oh, absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> According to my Duolingo app, "han går som en älg" translates to "he walks like a moose" which is the funniest sentence anyone's ever tried to teach me.
> 
> According to Google, "Jävla ryssar" translates to "fucking Russians" (so Mike was right, it is kind of rude - and not, of course, my opinion on any actual Russians).
> 
> If either of those things are wrong, comments are welcome - it's how I learn.


End file.
